Highlights

Tiger Hatchery“ESP-Disk’ 50th Anniversary Party” [live]

Free-jazz/noise/avant-rock warlords Tiger Hatchery recently finished up a midwest -> east coast tour that had trueheadsraving across the nation. The band stopped in Brooklyn to pound out a typically mammoth set in honor of the release of their album Sun Worship and the 50th Anniversary of their label ESP-Disk’ — and by the grace of some heathen god, they’ve posted a video of the full set, complete with legit audio quality and a camera angle from which one can view the trio in action at all times. Without spoiling too much, I can tell you that the set: [A - showcases three savage improvisers wailing together, in duo configurations, and solo] [B - features inspired use of props] [C - will knock you on your ass]. After Part 1 ends, Parts 2 and 3 beckon you from the related videos on the right side of the screen.

Since November 1 marks the beginning of the Holiday Season on the time-bending and malevolent calendar of international commerce, I’ve chosen to interpret this Tiger Hatchery set as a personal gift from Mssrs. Billington, Forbes, and Young to us, wrapped in snapped bass strings and drumstick shrapnel, conveyed across the webtubes, and smashed into our slack-jawed faces. We should all chip in and buy them a personalized mug that reads “World’s Greatest Shredders,” which the trio can then mail back and forth between their respective homes on opposite sides of the country. Each sip taken from this mug will compel the Hatch men to shed the responsibilities of their families and day jobs, reunite again, and get back on the road to tour forevermore. This is a brilliant plan and it will succeed.

Sun Worship is available now on LP and CD and if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, I just don’t know what to say to you anymore.

“Prima”

Need some bubbly bass lines to wash down the cranberries and stuffing? How about some creamy synths to drizzle over that slab of tryptophan? Taste the fresh delicious sounds of New Orleans-based reel-rider MJ Guider! As part of California tape label Constellation Tatsu’s upcoming December batch of cassettes, MJ Guider’s debut album Green Plastic is just in time for the coming celebrations of laziness and thankfulness. “Prima,” the first single off the impending release, is a cavernous psych jam that swallows up the listener in dark, warm, gooey vibes. Dig this jam for now, and keep an eye out for the December batch, which will also include releases from Pulse Emitter and Hakobune!

“Walls of Jericho Pt.2”

Earlier this year, Dean Blunt released one of the most captivating, unexpectedly solemn albums of the year with The Redeemer, and today, we have a video for a new song that revisits one of its standout tracks. It’s called “Walls of Jericho Pt.2,” and the video features a silhouetted Blunt, still obsessed and still bitter, singing to a body of water about his expectation of his former lover — who ran away on part one — coming back to him: “I know times can get so hollow/ And I try to leave you be/ But by the time you get to hear this/ You’ll be running back to me.”

The ebbing and flowing tides, the dawn of a new day: the setting signifies hope, but time hasn’t healed his wounds yet. Blunt’s gaze toward the sunrise mostly just sheds light on his lingering misery.

“All Things Break Through”

No doubt about it, Freelove Fenner is one clean-cut combo, plain and simple-like, and I’m not just talking about their hair or classy button-down shirts. But even with the snare dry as a bone like it is, and the crystalline clean guitar; none of it exactly sparkles. No, the tone of this Montreál trio is forever-sepia, feels as antique as the antiquity of pop itself, but – if I may – a distinction and maybe the grainy, JLK-starring clip for “All Things Break Through” below can help explain a little: There’s no looking back here, no worshipping of lost idols or summoning of ‘forgotten’ ghosts. It’s not old, nor is it a copy of something that is - Freelove Fenner simply exists there, and wherever “there” is isn’t so much a debatable time period as it is a lazily unanswered question, the kind you might happen upon in a daydream. Kasowicz seems lost without consequence in the video, chancing her path by the roll of a die, and when she does find something – a relic of a specific time – she’s quick to bury it, light another cigarette, and move on. And in its stumbling through the ages, Freelove Fenner is also somewhat ageless; polished and poised, pop music that is exquisitely, is naturally all its own.

“Corde Vocale”

It’s at the tensest moment in life when you recognize what matters the most, no? Well, under the guidance of that malevolent beauty, Mivos Quartet strings up some sizzling sounds, vibrating along a hollowed wooden pathway, and lending a helping hand into the heart of sheer fearful finesse. With a little help from modern composer Felipe Lara, the five flay a world with “Corde Vocale” in which wind blows the dripping of terror and down pour of mystery into the temple of pure creative thought. A process which the Mivos Quartet seems to behold while playing together, looking off each other and notes for direction. This symbiosis in artistry harnesses some serious attention outside of the physical, and borders on the process of improv, or straight up going with the flow. Not that it’s all made up on the spot, no, but so skillfully written and performed in their entirety that their music, especially when playing with Felipe Lara on “Corde Vocale,” is as though it’s a revolving and ever expanding idea of itself being momentary.

Having performed with a plethora of musicians/artists throughout their career-span, Mivos Quartet is proud to release their debut album Reappearances, which out on CD and available for full download TODAY! Wait, have you NOT heard this news? ‘Cause I’m here to tell YOU, reader, that your opportunity to grip on these major players is now real via Carrier Records. So unless you’re going to experience their brilliancy of performance at the album release concert on December 19 in the DiMenna Center, you’d better be grippin’ these tracks ASAP.

Listen to “Corde Vocale” by Mivos Quartet featuring Felipe Lara on their new album Reappearances via Carrier Records below:

Quintet/Sextet [preview]

Guys, Quintet/Sextet is it: the experimental music equivalent of The Expendables. Just think about it, like The Expendables this record brings together a myriad of the genre’s stars that have all entered interesting phases of their careers. For instance, Sachiko M is definitely the Sylvester Stallone of the group because she’s been pretty quiet in recent years except for big collaborative releases similar to Quintet/Sextet. However, her prior landmark work precedes her, and her iconic sine tones’ presence alone are something to celebrate in the same way that we celebrate Stallone’s mountain of a face. In that case, Otomo Yoshihide is unquestionably the Bruce Willis of the ensemble; the dude that’s continuously done big respectable work in a number of genres and generally followed his muse wherever it’s led him. The detailed comparisons could go on forever, but I’ll just say that Evan Parker is definitely Jason Staham, John Butcher is Mickey Rourke, John Edwards is Terry Crews, and the late/great Tony Marsh was unequivocally Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Thankfully, unlike The Expendables, this track preview finds the sextet working as a true ensemble to create a texturally arresting piece. The track manages to work its way through pointilistic noise to sustained drones and even a lovely jazz inflected middle before returning to the opening sounds. It’s a surprisingly greater whole than its parts that should firmly establish this ensemble is the ultimate free improv super group.